


The Nicest Thing (I've Ever Seen)

by sohapppily



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, M/M, i know okay i know but i'm writing it anyway, platonic shane/sara friendship btw, yeah it's a bakery au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-09-28 21:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohapppily/pseuds/sohapppily
Summary: Shane glanced at the doors of the office building he was standing in front of, then turned his attention to the bakery across the street. He stopped there every morning, Monday through Friday, at 8:30 exactly. He didn’t know much about the handsome man who was almost always stationed behind the counter when he arrived, but he’d recognize the sound of Ryan saying, “Good morning! What can I get ya?” anywhere.





	The Nicest Thing (I've Ever Seen)

**Author's Note:**

> i’m back y’all. i texted my friend “tell me why the FUCK i want a shyan bakery au so bad” and then decided to be the fic i want to see in the world. i missed writing the boys.
> 
> i’m sure this has been done at this point. despite writing a lot of shyan fic i actually haven’t read much of it. i’m doing it anyway tho. try and stop me.
> 
> title from nicest thing by kate nash since i can't ever come up with original titles.

It wasn’t even 9 AM and Shane was already done with Monday. Normally, he didn’t mind Mondays. Looked forward to them, even. But this particular Monday had been one shitty thing after another for the short time he’d been awake, and all he wanted was to go back to his apartment and go to sleep.

His train of thought was quickly interrupted when he was whacked in the back of the knee by something hard and plastic. He looked down to see a small child grinning up at him, holding a GI Joe figurine that had no doubt been the assault weapon. The kid laughed and kept walking behind his mother, and Shane watched as he hit another unsuspecting passerby, unbeknownst to the adult who should have been stopping it.

“Fuck,” Shane said quietly, and the Chicago street where he stood continued to bustle around him, giving him no reply.

He looked down at his watch. _8:58_. Now he didn’t even have time for the reason he looked forward to Mondays.

He glanced at the doors of the office building he was standing in front of, then turned his attention to the bakery across the street. He stopped there every morning, Monday through Friday, at 8:30 exactly. The wait was usually a bit on the long side, but Shane didn’t mind, since their coffee was excellent and their cheese danishes were even better. But if Shane was being completely honest with himself, neither of those were the reason for his routine. And, to his delight, said reason just so happened to be standing in the window.

_Ryan._

Shane didn’t know much about the handsome man who was almost always stationed behind the counter when he arrived, but he’d recognize the sound of Ryan saying, “Good morning! What can I get ya?” anywhere.

Shane had often overheard Ryan rhapsodizing to fellow employees and patrons about the Lakers, which made Shane suspect he wasn’t originally from Chicago. He’d once heard Ryan mention graduating in 2013, and although Shane wasn’t sure if that meant high school or college, he could place Ryan somewhere in his twenties. There was one employee Ryan always seemed to be discussing true crime podcasts with, which Shane could appreciate, but Ryan also liked to brag about the ghost supposedly haunting his place of work, with which Shane was not on board. Shane knew Ryan had a dog named Paddy, friends named Tucker and Roland and a girlfriend named Helen, although it had been a few months since he’d heard her name mentioned.

Maybe he knew more about Ryan than he thought. Which was slightly alarming, since Shane had never had a real conversation with the man. He’d tried to make small talk a few times, but then Ryan would smile or laugh at something he said, and Shane’s brain would cloud over entirely. But he was content to drink his coffee and eat his danish at the table in the corner, scrolling through the morning’s news on his phone and listening to Ryan’s extroverted chatter.

Shane watched Ryan laugh through the window, his mind supplying the sound he’d grown so fond of, and his heart skipped a beat.

With one last glance at the doors that lead to the office job he hated, Shane thought, _fuck it_ , and quickly closed the distance between himself and the nearest crosswalk. He knew he’d be late to work, and he knew his boss would give him shit for it. But it was worth it just to spend a few minutes in Ryan’s presence.

As Shane pushed the door open, he was greeted by the familiar chime of the jingle bells tied to the door’s handle. The sight of the bakery’s warm yellow walls and the homey Christmas decor coupled with the smell of coffee and fresh pastries instantly calmed his mind, dissolving all his thoughts of how shitty the morning had been so far.

“Hey! Big guy!” Ryan exclaimed, and Shane’s head whipped toward where he was still standing at a table near the window. “You’re here! I was worried you weren’t gonna show up.”

All Shane could muster was a shocked, “Huh?”

“I figured you were running late,” Ryan continued, draping the towel he’d been using to wipe one of the tables over his shoulder as he walked behind the counter. “I got your order ready for you.”

“You did?” Shane asked. He felt somewhat guilty as he sidestepped the line of people waiting at the registers and walked over to where Ryan stood, but no one paid him any mind.

“Yeah, man. And then you didn’t come in, and I was like, oh, God, of course _this_ would be the day he doesn’t show. But now here you are.”

“Here I am,” Shane repeated quietly, trying to process the situation. “How’d you remember my order?”

Ryan laughed once. “Dude, you’ve come in here every weekday at 8:30 on the nose and ordered a black coffee for _months_ now, and on Mondays you always get a cheese danish. Of course I remembered your order. Plus, you’re nine feet tall, so you’re pretty memorable.”

Shane desperately wanted to reply with something witty and self-deprecating, probably about being distantly related to Bigfoot, but he was too stunned by the fact that Ryan _remembered_ him. All he could manage was a soft, “Oh.”

“So, here you go,” Ryan said, pushing a paper bag and a coffee cup across the counter. “It’s on the house.”

Rather than thanking him, Shane blurted out, “Can you do that?” and immediately regretted it. His first real conversation with Ryan and he’d already stuck his foot in his mouth.

Luckily, Ryan’s smile didn’t falter as he said, “Well, I own the place, so…”

“Oh, God,” Shane said, looking down at the counter. “I’m sorry. That was such a stupid thing to say. I didn’t mean to assume. I just–”

“Whoa, buddy,” Ryan said, cutting him off with a soft laugh, and Shane looked back at him. “It’s fine. I know I don’t exactly read as a guy who _owns_ a bakery. Most people are shocked when they find out it’s me.”

“Sorry,” Shane said again. “It’s been a rough morning.”

Ryan frowned. “How so?”

“I don’t want to bother you with it,” Shane replied quickly. “You’re busy.”

Slowly, Ryan looked around the small café, and Shane followed his gaze. His waitstaff milled about, checking in on their tables. The two employees stationed at the registers greeted customers and took their orders. Shane could see the kitchen through the large, paneless window, where his chefs were quietly chatting as they cooked.

“I think I can spare a little time,” Ryan said eventually, prompting Shane with a small nod.

Shane took a deep breath. “Okay, so, first of all, I overslept. Like, way overslept. I rarely hit snooze, and I guess I must’ve hit stop instead, because my alarm didn’t go off again.”

“That’s the worst,” Ryan said quietly.

“Totally. And my roommate is out of town right now, so when I had some people over last night, I shut her bedroom door. But I must’ve forgotten to open it before I went to sleep, which wouldn’t be a problem, except that that’s where the cat’s litter box is while we redo our bathroom. So, when I walked out of my bedroom, I _smelled_ that Obi had peed all over our couch.”

“Obi?” Ryan asked. “Like -Wan Kenobi?”

“Like short for Orange Boy,” Shane corrected.

“That’s cute,” Ryan replied, and although he was talking about the cat, Shane couldn’t help but smile.

“ _He’s_ cute,” Shane agreed. “Just not so much when he’s ruining my furniture. And since I was already running late, I didn’t have time to clean it or anything, so the couch cushion is just sitting on the fire escape, marinating in cat piss and rain.”

“Gross,” Ryan said with a small giggle, and Shane laughed, too.

“Yeah. So now I have to go all of today knowing that’s waiting for me when I get home. And then I finally got all the way down to the street and realized I didn’t have my phone, so I had to go back up my five-floor walk-up to get it and then come back _down_. Then when I opened Uber, it wouldn’t connect because there was some problem with my account? And I haven’t used Lyft in forever, so I had to download the app, which was taking a million years. So, I ended up just hailing a normal cab, which was next to impossible in the _downpour_ twenty minutes ago.”

“Christ,” Ryan said softly.

“And then just now, when I was standing outside my job across the street, debating on whether or not I had time to come here, some kid whacked me in the leg with his GI Joe doll. Then I came here.”

They were both silent for a moment.

“Not to be a dick,” Ryan began, “but on behalf of that kid, it was a GI Joe _action figure_. They don’t make GI Joe _dolls_.”

Despite it all, Shane smiled. “Fair point. But either way, it _hurt_.”

“So what made you decide to come in here?” Ryan asked. “If you were already running so late.”

 _You_ , Shane thought, and was incredibly proud of himself for not saying out loud. After a moment too long, he finally replied, “The coffee in my office sucks. I needed something good to turn my morning around.”

Ryan smiled wide, and Shane couldn’t help but equate it to the sun coming out.

“What’s your name?” Ryan asked, in lieu of a proper response.

“Shane,” he supplied, and after a moment, added, “Madej.”

“Shane Madej,” Ryan repeated, and Shane tried to commit every syllable to memory. “I’m Ryan Bergara.”

“Hi, Ryan Bergara,” Shane said, reveling in finally saying the other man’s name out loud.

Ryan laughed and held out a hand. “Hi, Shane Madej. Nice to officially meet you.”

“You too,” Shane said, shaking Ryan’s hand, and trying to suppress the thrill he felt at the contact.

“So, Shane,” Ryan began. “Does that job across the street give you a lunch break?”

“They do. Assuming I still have a job by lunch, since I’m…” He glanced at his watch. “Now ten minutes late.”

“Jesus. That strict?”

Shane looked at his feet for a moment. “I’m ten minutes late a lot.”

“Well, whether you’re employed or not, do you want to come back here? I can make you a sandwich.”

“I didn’t know you served lunch,” Shane replied.

“We don’t, yet,” Ryan clarified. “But I keep non-breakfast, non-pastry food around for me and the staff.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Shane said, unsure why he was turning it down. “Besides, you’re already giving me breakfast for free.”

“Yeah, and I’m gonna give you lunch free, too,” Ryan said confidently. “You seem like you have a lot more things you need to complain about.”

Shane laughed once. “Do you moonlight as a therapist?”

“No,” Ryan replied. “But I’ve been trying to get you talking for ages.”

“You have been?”

“Yeah, man. But you never give me more than a few syllables. It drives me nuts. Turns out all I had to do was give you free food and let you bitch a little.”

Shane let out a soft breath. He didn’t know what to say. Ryan had specifically been trying to talk to him, and he’d fucked it up every time.

“Sorry,” Shane said eventually.

“Don’t be,” Ryan replied. “Just come back here for lunch, and bring your polysyllabic vocabulary.”

“Okay,” Shane said with a small grin, then he picked up his breakfast and took a small step away from the counter. “What time?”

“Whatever works for you.”

“1-ish?”

“1-ish it is.”

Shane smiled wider. “I really do have to go now, though.”

“Yes, you go to work,” Ryan replied, making a small shooing motion with his hands. “I’ve gotta tell everyone your name so we can stop calling you the cute tall guy.”

 _Cute?_ Shane thought, but was too stunned to say. He was glad he couldn’t see his own face.

“See you later, Shane Madej,” Ryan said over his shoulder as he walked toward the kitchen.

“Bye,” Shane said, his voice somehow wavering through the short word.

He waited until Ryan was out of sight, then walked out the door.

* * *

> Hey Sara  
>  Sara  
>  Sara!  
>  SARA  
>  SARA!!!!  
>  ANSWER MY TEXTS PLEASE  
>  !!!!!!!
> 
> _I AM BUSY WHAT_
> 
> I talked to him.
> 
> _???_
> 
> Ryan.  
>  Like we actually had a full conversation.  
>  And he called me cute?
> 
> _!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
>  _ _WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT INSTEAD OF JUST MY NAME_
> 
> I DON’T KNOW I WANTED TO BUILD SUSPENSE I GUESS
> 
> _BULLSHIT  
>  _ _Call me on your lunch with more details pls_
> 
> I can’t.  
>  I’m having lunch with Ryan.
> 
> _SHANE_
> 
> I KNOW
> 
> _OMG_
> 
> I KNOW
> 
> _IS IT A DATE???_
> 
> I don’t know.  
>  I’ll call you when I get home and tell you everything, I promise.
> 
> _You better!!_

* * *

“You can do this,” Shane whispered to himself as he crossed the street that separated his job from Ryan’s bakery. “You can eat lunch and have a normal fucking conversation.”

He couldn’t see Ryan through the large windows as he approached, and he began to worry. What if Ryan wasn’t there? What if he hadn’t been serious? What if he walked in, asking for a free lunch, and everyone looked at him like he had ten heads?

Before the anxiety forced him to turn around, he saw Ryan emerge from the kitchen. They locked eyes through the glass, and Ryan’s face lit up. He raised his hand to wave hello, then flipped his hand to beckon Shane inside. Shane waved back, then made his way to the door.

“Hey, Shane!” Ryan said, and the sound of his voice carrying over the sound of the bells as the door opened was enough to warm Shane’s heart.

“Hey,” Shane said, giving him another wave.

“Still employed?”

Shane smiled and walked toward the counter. “Still employed.”

“Glad to hear it,” Ryan replied. “How’s a turkey sub sound?”

“Sounds great.”

“Good,” Ryan said. “Because turkey was all I had left, so I already started making them. Lettuce, tomato, onion?”

“All three, please. With mayo.”

“Coming right up,” Ryan said, then nodded toward an empty table and said, “Take a seat. I’ll be right out.”

Shane did as he was told while Ryan made his way back to the kitchen. As Shane approached the table, he could see a small piece of paper sitting in the center, with the word RESERVED and a smiley face hastily scrawled in permanent marker. He smiled at it as he sat down, and with a quick glance toward the kitchen, slid it into his back pocket.

While he waited, he shrugged off his coat, then pulled out his phone to text Sara again.

> I’m at lunch.
> 
> _So why the fuck are you texting me?_
> 
> Because he’s making lunch in the kitchen and I’m nervous.  
>  I don’t know what to do with my hands.  
>  What do I do with my hands?  
>  What if I fuck this up?
> 
> _Relax_  
>  _You’ll be fine_  
>  _Use your hands to eat_  
>  _You can have lunch with a cute boy_
> 
> It’s not just a cute boy.  
>  It’s RYAN.  
>  It’s like THE BOY.

It took a few moments for her to reply.

> _Okay don’t take this the wrong way  
>  _ _But be careful_
> 
> ???
> 
> _You’ve built Ryan up in your head since you see him every day_  
>  _And we joke about him being your boyfriend a lot_  
>  _But you don’t KNOW him_  
>  _Have a good time today and actually GET to know him  
>  _ _Just don’t make him something he’s not_  
>  _He’s not THE boy yet_

Shane frowned. He knew she was right, but before he could reply, a plate was set down in front of him.

“Who ya texting?” Ryan asked, sitting down opposite him.

“Roommate,” Shane replied, locking his phone and shoving it in his pocket.

“Everything okay? You look like he just gave you bad news.”

“It’s fine,” Shane said, then lightly corrected, “ _She’s_ just calling out my bullshit, as usual.”

“So you guys are close, then?”

“Very.”

“That’s nice,” Ryan said with a smile. “Bad roommates are the worst.”

“Yeah,” Shane agreed, wishing, not for the first time, that he were more adept at making conversation.

“What’s her name?” Ryan asked after a moment, and Shane was grateful that at least one of them knew how to communicate.

“Sara.”

“How’d you guys meet?”

“We dated very briefly in college.” Shane paused, before continuing with, “While I was still in the closet.”

He watched Ryan’s face closely, looking for any hint of reaction, but his expression didn’t falter.

“Did she figure it out or did you tell her?” Ryan asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Shane smiled. “She figured it out sometime between it taking four months for two 19-year-olds to get farther than kissing and me almost crying the first time we did.”

Ryan started to laugh, but caught himself. “Sorry. That’s not funny.”

“No, it is,” Shane said. “Now, anyway.”

Ryan smiled, then took a bite of his sandwich, so Shane did the same. He’d hoped his comment would open the door for Ryan to make a comment about his own sexuality, if it happened to be anything other than straight, especially since he’d been thinking about Ryan calling him cute all morning. Sara’s text flashed through his mind as he tried to suppress the disappointment. _Don’t make him something he’s not._

“This is really good,” Shane said after swallowing his bite.

“Thanks,” Ryan replied, then said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“How in the _hell_ do you spell Madej?”

“M-A-D-E-J.”

“J!” Ryan exclaimed. “Damn it. I tried A-Y, E-Y, A-I, E-H. I didn’t even think of J.”

Shane laughed. “That’s, like, the opposite of the problem people usually have. I’ve been called Shane Ma-deh-juh more times than I can count. Why’d you need to know?”

“I was trying desperately to find you on Facebook earlier,” Ryan explained. “This one girl here couldn’t remember who you were when I was telling everyone your name, and we were all like, you’re _literally_ the reason we all call him Cute Tall Guy!”

Shane tried to keep a straight face. Ryan hadn’t been the one who thought he was cute. _Don’t make him something he’s not._

“So I was gonna show her a picture of you now that I knew your full name, but then none of us could figure out how to spell Madej, so I couldn’t find you.”

“Well, feel free to look me up now that you know,” Shane offered.

“Oh, yeah, expect to have a friend request by the time you finish walking back to work.”

Shane smiled at the thought of being able to see pieces of Ryan’s life outside of the bakery. “Deal.”

They were quiet for a moment before Shane took another bite of his sandwich and Ryan said, “We’ll probably still call you Cute Tall Guy, though. It already stuck, and you are very tall. And very cute.”

Shane almost choked on his food, then managed to get out a quiet, “Thanks.”

A smile spread across Ryan’s face, but before he could speak again, one of his employees approached their table. She was pretty and blonde, and had been there as long as Shane had been coming in.

“Ryan?” she asked, and he turned toward her. “Can I borrow you for a sec?”

“What’s up?” Ryan asked.

“The espresso machine is doing that thing again,” she replied. “I can’t unjam it. I need your muscles.”

Ryan laughed as he stood up. “What else am I good for, if not my strength?”

“You’re good for everything,” she teased, then patted his arm. “But it’s time the gun show.”

He beamed at her, and Shane was overwhelmed with irrational jealousy.

“Be right back,” Ryan said, and Shane nodded as the pair walked off.

He took another bite of his sandwich, then pulled his phone back out to text Sara.

> Why’d you get in my head like that?
> 
> _Excuse me?_
> 
> I’m totally nervous now. I’m fucking it up.
> 
> _I’m sure you’re not fucking it up  
>  _ _But sorry if I psyched you out_

Shane sighed, then typed out his response.

> No you were right.
> 
> _What happened?_
> 
> I told him I’m gay and he didn’t say anything back.  
>  Then he totally flirted with a waitress in front of me.  
>  But he also called me cute this morning which I can’t stop thinking about.  
>  And he said it again just now.  
>  So I’m confused and scared that I got my hopes up over nothing.  
>  Like I always do.  
>  Help me.
> 
> _You could just ask him if he’s into you_
> 
> Be serious please.
> 
> _Into dudes then_
> 
> Come on.
> 
> _Just keep talking to him Shane_  
>  _You guys literally JUST officially met  
>  _ _If anything you made a new friend_  
>  _You need more of those_
> 
> Ugh stop being so rational.

“Sara again?” Ryan asked as he sat back down.

“Yeah,” Shane replied, tucking his phone away.

“Filling her in on the details of your lunch with the guy from the bakery?”

Shane balked. “What?”

“Come on,” Ryan said. “You’re here every day and you said you guys are close. There’s no way she doesn’t know exactly what’s happening right now.”

“You got me,” Shane mumbled, and he hoped the heat he felt in his cheeks wasn’t visible. “Is that weird?”

“Nah,” Ryan replied. “I texted my roommate-slash-best friend right when you left here this morning.”

Shane smiled. “And told him what?”

“That I finally got the tall guy to speak to me,” Ryan said. “And that I was so excited about it, I accidentally gave him two free meals.”

Shane was baffled at the idea of Ryan being _excited_ about speaking to him, but he pushed through, not wanting to clam up and really ruin things.

“So we’re both creeps, then.”

“Two peas in a pod already.” Ryan smiled. “I knew we’d get along.”

“You did?” Shane asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. You’ve got a good energy.”

Shane resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he appreciated the compliment. “Thanks?”

“This whole place has a good energy,” Ryan continued. “That’s why I love it so much. Except for the ghost haunting my office, but even that doesn’t feel malicious. Just mischievous.”

Shane scoffed. “You don’t _really_ believe in that stuff, do you?”

“Yeah, I do,” Ryan replied, a note of defense in his tone. “How else would you explain things randomly being different places than I left them?”

“One of your employees moving them, probably.”

“Or things falling on their own?”

“Wobbly shelves, impact from the other side of the wall, the general concept of gravity.”

Ryan clicked his tongue. “Typical skeptic. Twisting hard evidence.”

“Hard evidence?” Shane repeated with a laugh. “You just casually saying some stuff moved around isn’t _hard evidence_ , Ryan.”

“Well, I’m gonna _get_ evidence,” Ryan insisted. “I keep trying to get one of those ghost shows to come here, but none of them ever answer my emails.”

Shane couldn’t help but laugh, and thankfully, Ryan did, too.

“Why not just do it yourself?” Shane asked.

“Huh?”

“Just buy some ghost detectors or whatever on Amazon and set them up overnight.”

“They don’t sell ghost hunting equipment on Amazon, Shane,” Ryan said. “It’s, like, serious shit.”

“I bet you a hundred dollars I could open Amazon right now and buy, like, five ghost hunting gadgets.”

Ryan smiled. “I’m not gonna make that bet, but I’m curious to see.”

“Then let’s see.”

They both took bites of their sandwiches, and Shane placed his phone on the table. He unlocked it and pulled up Amazon, then typed _ghost hunting_ into the search bar. He watched the page load as he chewed, then began scrolling.

“Okay, here we go,” Shane said. “First result: The Everything Ghost Hunting Book.”

“With the black cover and green letters?”

Shane looked up to meet Ryan’s eyes. “Uh, yeah.”

“I have that already,” Ryan said with a small grin. “My brother got it for me as a birthday gift.”

“Jesus Christ,” Shane said. “So you’re, like, _serious_ serious?”

“It was sort of a gag gift, but yeah, I am,” Ryan replied. “What else is on there?”

“Mostly books. But I only searched ‘ghost hunting’ so that’s probably why.”

“Try adding ‘equipment’ to it,” Ryan suggested, but Shane was already typing the word.

They waited in silence as the new search loaded, and Shane wondered how their conversation had ended up here.

“Okay, now we’re talking,” Shane said, scrolling the new results. “Here we go. Night vision cameras, EMF readers, voice recorders, something called a spirit box.”

Ryan perked up. “Spirit box?”

“Yeah,” Shane replied, looking back at him. “I told you Amazon would have this stuff.”

“Can I see the spirit box?”

“Sure,” Shane said. He tapped the listing and held his phone out to Ryan. “Why?”

“I’ve seen videos of these being used in investigations,” Ryan answered, taking the phone. “They’re so cool.”

“What are they?”

“It’s basically a radio scanner that changes between stations really rapidly. The idea is that if you heard a full sentence over the changing airwaves, it would be something supernatural trying to communicate, since it only stays on each station for, like, a fraction of a second.”

“Sounds like typical pseudoscience nonsense to me.”

Ryan looked up at him. “I mean, yeah, maybe. But they’ve captured some really compelling evidence.”

“Oh, have they?” Shane asked with a smirk.

“Yes,” Ryan replied simply. “And I’d love to prove it to you.”

“And how would you do that, exactly?”

“Easy.” Ryan’s eyes involuntarily flicked back to Shane’s phone screen, but continued speaking before Shane could ask what caught his eye. “I’m gonna buy a spirit box.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. And an EMF reader, and a night vision camera, and a bunch of this shit, and I’m gonna have my own investigation, just like you said.”

“And then what?” Shane asked. “Film it and force me to watch it with my coffee?”

“Better.” A Cheshire Cat grin crept across Ryan’s features. “You’re gonna do the investigation with me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Once all my stuff comes in the mail, I’ll let you know, and we’ll figure out a night we’re both free. Then you can come over here, and I’ll prove to you that there’s a ghost in my office.”

Shane was speechless. In all the times he’d imagined himself hanging out with Ryan – and it was more times than he’d like to admit to himself – it never involved hunting for ghosts. Part of him didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to spend time with Ryan, but the other part didn’t want to spend a night feigning enthusiasm for something so… ridiculous.

“Don’t you have, like, some friends or a… girlfriend you could do this with?” Shane asked. “Someone who actually believes in it? I’d be more than happy to just sit through some grainy night vision footage.”

“Well, I’m not currently dating anyone, and none of my friends really believe in any of this stuff. A few of my staff do, but I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be here after hours. And when in the history of ghost hunting has grainy night vision footage ever convinced a skeptic?”

It took Shane a moment to respond. He couldn’t help but notice the way Ryan had said _dating anyone_ when Shane had said _girlfriend_. He noted the gender neutrality of the statement, and filed it away to dissect with Sara later.

“You are aware that I don’t believe in it either, right?” Shane countered. “So why should I have to investigate with you?”

“Because you started it,” Ryan said. “It’s only fair that you finish it.”

Shane opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the blonde waitress from before.

“Hey, Ryan?” she said simply.

“Jesus, again?” he asked.

“Again.”

Ryan groaned. “I can’t wait to get the new one tomorrow. I’ll be right over.”

She smiled and walked away, and Ryan handed Shane’s phone back to him. Then, he grabbed a napkin, pulled a pen from his back pocket and scrawled something down.

“There’s my number,” Ryan said, pushing the napkin to Shane. “Text me that spirit box link while I go fight with my stupid espresso machine.”

Shane stared at the napkin, unable to believe what he was seeing. “Um. Okay.”

“Great.” Ryan stood up. “By the way, Sara texted you before. She wants to know if I’m cuter now that you’re seeing me up close.”

Shane watched in silence as Ryan walked away, ignoring the hot blush that was surely showing on his face. The message must’ve been what had caught Ryan’s eye before. Thankfully, he didn’t seem too fazed. Shane didn’t know what to make of that.

Before he could fully panic about it, he tapped Ryan’s number into a new text and sent along the spirit box link. With a sigh, he swiped to his and Sara’s text thread only to see that she had, in fact, texted him exactly that. He took another bite of his sandwich to keep from groaning out loud.

“I’m back,” Ryan said as he sat down. “Espresso machine fixed, for now.”

“Glad to hear it,” Shane said. “I sent you the link.”

Ryan pulled his phone out. “Ah! There you are. Thanks.”

Shane watched as Ryan tapped at his phone screen for a few moments, then looked back up to meet Shane’s eyes.

“Spell Madej for me again.”

Shane smiled. “M-A-D-E-J.”

“J,” Ryan muttered as he typed it in. “J, J, J. Gotta remember that.”

Shane glanced at the clock on his phone and was sad to see he only had a few minutes before he had to return to work. Something about the impending end to the conversation made an unexpected boldness surge through him.

“So, was that just a ploy to get my number?” Shane asked, the words sounding foreign in his own ears.

“That depends,” Ryan countered with a smirk. “What did you tell Sara?”

The fleeting bravado faded. “I haven’t texted her back yet.”

“Well, then, what are you _going_ to tell her? Am I cuter up close?”

Shane wasn’t sure what to say. He’d been through this before, dealing with straight guys who thought it was fun to jokingly flirt and bask in the attention while Shane broke his own heart. But there was a sincerity behind Ryan’s playfulness, coupled with his few cryptic comments, that made Shane wonder if it wasn’t a joke.

Before he could answer, they were interrupted again, and Shane internally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Ry?” a man asked. Shane didn’t recognize him, but his clothing made Shane guess he worked in the kitchen. “Sorry. Phone’s for you.”

It took Ryan a moment to break eye contact with Shane and turn toward his employee. “Who is it?”

“Landlord,” he answered simply. “About the water heater.”

“Tell him I’ll be there in a sec,” Ryan said, then turned back to Shane with a small frown. “This will probably take a while.”

“That’s okay,” Shane said as the employee walked away. “I have to get back to work in a few anyway.”

“Oh! Well, that’s convenient timing, then.”

Shane nodded. “Thanks so much for this. It was great.”

“You’re very welcome,” Ryan replied as they both stood up. “It was nice to finally talk to you, even if I found out you don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Same,” Shane said, pulling his coat back on. “Even though you do.”

“Touché. I’m serious about the ghost hunting, though. I’m holding you to it.”

“To _what?_ ” Shane asked with a laugh. “I didn’t make any promises.”

“True, but I’ll give you your coffee on the house again tomorrow if you agree.”

“Honestly? I’d rather pay for the coffee.”

Ryan giggled. “I’ll wear you down. Just wait.”

“Sure you will.”

“See you tomorrow?” Ryan asked, grabbing his and Shane’s empty plates from the table.

“Always,” Shane said, then cringed internally at the cheesiness of his words.

But Ryan just held out a fist, and it took Shane a moment to realize what was happening. He bumped his knuckles against Ryan’s, and tried to ignore the thrill he felt at the simple contact.

“Later, man,” Ryan said.

Shane smiled. “Later.”

**Author's Note:**

> not #spon by amazon but hmu.
> 
> look. i wanna write more of this au. i really do. it’s so cozy and it’s winter and i’m soft. i’m just not totally sure where i want it to go? but i wanted to post this now that it was fully formed into real words and not abstract concepts floating around my head.
> 
> so: sub if you so choose. there will be more of this. specifically ghost hunting. i just gotta work it all out. (i’m v open to prompts.) the teen rating will probably change eventually.
> 
> (also i know shane and sara aren’t the same age but it’s an au so just bear with me okay. i wanna write this. it’s so not my usual style but i’m weak.)


End file.
